Ask HN: What can't you say today?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4556323

by mcartyem • 14 years ago

3 9 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Humjob3• 14 years ago

My opinion of topics you can't talk about in descending order of controversy in 2012 America:

- Racial phenotype/genotype differences

- Differences between the sexes

- Using foreign policy sticks (rather than solely carrots) with Israel

- The Drug War's legitimacy

- IQ and its correlates, causes and effects on both an individual and societal level

- Islamofascism

- Single payer healthcare

- US Gov't crackdowns on secrecy and information

- The many fallacies in organized religion (this one is highly regional)

There are probably lots of others but those examples immediately spring to mind for me.

dwj• 14 years ago

I think you've pretty much nailed it, although I would disagree with the ordering. I'd put Islam and healthcare at the top (not sure which is more controversial).

Humjob3• 14 years ago

I agree they are controversial, but they are at least somewhat within the realm of discussion.. race/sex differences are so taboo that you can't even bring the topics up without the vast majority of people becoming extremely emotional and irrational. It's somewhat understandable given their tumultuous history and the relatively recent progress made by the civil rights and feminist movements, but even so, reality is what it is and all the words in the world won't change it.

And given that my post already received a -1 vote it seems those topics are frowned upon/can't be talked about even on HN ;)

ChuckMcM• 14 years ago

Well I suppose you could add android / ios comparisons for the Bay area. Also wealth distribution, taxation, and societal impact of technology.

001sky• 14 years ago

> The many fallacies in organized religion (this one is highly regional)

-- Subheading a) android / ios comparisons for the Bay area

diminium• 14 years ago

Anything which results in making the world an exponentially better place ;)

People seem to like hearing how awesome they are and what they are doing even if it isn't.

tokenadult• 14 years ago

I've found it remarkably difficult to nudge people to say anything appreciative about Hacker News here on Hacker News. It's easy for people to whine here about negative responses to their "Show HN" posts, or to complain about being downvoted. But it's difficult for people to speak up about what's done right here by the site management and by the community as a whole. One little anecdote I have to support this statement is the more than order of magnitude difference in replies and upvotes for a positive submission, "Ask HN: What do you like about the Hacker News community?"

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4399678

as contrasted with one of the gripe threads submitted just before.

In general, I can talk about any contentious social policy issue here. I can ESPECIALLY talk absolutely any social policy issue, and about current electoral politics, in my group of Facebook friends. I've practiced cultivating a community of friends from all phases of my life, from first cousins and elementary school classmates to co-workers from when I lived abroad to fellow parents I "met" in other online networks and on and on into a group who are mutually respectful, factual, and curious about every subject. In my today, in my America, you can talk about anything. Just be polite and thoughtful, that's all I ask.

For actual hard information on some of the more controversial topics some people discuss in some places online, I recommend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WeijiBaikeBianji/Intellige...

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WeijiBaikeBianji/Anthropol...

for reliable sources with good information on the subjects.

AFTER EDIT: It's possible to talk about controversial topics here on HN:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4524856

It is worth bearing in mind, however, that HN has a defined topic scope, and the site guidelines

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

say, "Please avoid introducing classic flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say about them."

So most of the veteran users here with the highest karma relentlessly downvote and flag stories and posts that refer to electoral politics or other especially heated issues. I discuss those on Facebook, in my carefully curated circle of friends accumulated over decades, but I don't go out of my way to bring them up here.

Ask HN: What can't you say today?

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